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Manga is extremely rich in visual storytelling conventions, and the interplay of word and image in manga takes part in a long tradition in Japanese art that reaches as far back as the Heian period. Manga’s complex, sophisticated visual convention is akin to traditional Japanese painting, yamato-e, and because of this the genre lends itself well to the art-historical method of visual analysis. This thesis examines the history of manga, studying the formal devices manga shares with traditional Japanese painting. It also observes popular tropes in manga, examining motifs such as the controversial “big eyes” device by discussing the “Other” in Japanese popular culture. Finally, this thesis offers an in-depth examination of Yamato Waki’s manga adaptation of the Murasaki Shikibu’s eleventh-century novel The Tale of Genji, further examining similarities between manga and traditional Japanese art forms and culture.